RWD 19xx-1984 DeVille and Fleetwood,1985-1996 Fleetwood and Brougham Forum Discussion, Cherie's '84 Coupe DeVille Project in Past Cadillac Vehicle Discussion; Hi there! My name is Cherie. You may have noticed me around the forums this week. I signed up a ...

Cherie's '84 Coupe DeVille Project

Hi there! My name is Cherie. You may have noticed me around the forums this week. I signed up a year ago but haven't really gotten involved on this site until now. I've been working on an '84 Coupe DeVille project since early 2012. It was my first car, and for all intents and purposes it's pretty much like a child to me -- me and my Caddy are inseparable. I've dragged it from Arizona to Utah and now to California. I couldn't work on it while I was in AZ and UT because I was in college (for engineering if that explains my lack of spare time). Now that I'm out of college, I'm finally working on it! I am more proud of this project than you will ever know.

I recently replaced the timing components and water pump among a semi-long list of other things. I HAVE to have this car running by the end of July, after which is must depart my friend's driveway, and since I don't yet have a driveway of my own, I have to have it running and registered so that I can park it at my apartment complex (registration is another hurdle I'm going to face.. more details on that dilemma later). I need all the positive energy and ambition as possible TO. GET. THIS. DONE!!

In order to get it running, I have to finish putting the rest of the components back onto the front of the engine (pulleys, compressor, radiator, etc), and then I have to reconnect the distributor and spark plug wires (both new), re-time everything, put new gasoline, change the oil, change the transmission fluid, and probably a handful of other things I'm forgetting right now. Since I'm waiting for my parts to come in from McMaster (I'm devising my own harmonic balancer installer), I thought that today I can go over and wash my Caddy, clean up some of the rust (Scotts Valley, CA is humid!!) and possibly sand and prime the areas that the naval jelly can't really get.

Re: Cherie's '84 Coupe DeVille Project

Glad to see another project thread. I believe you will be the "First Lady" of the RWD forum.

Wow, the first? I'm not entirely surprised, but I know these forums have been on the web for a long time.

Originally Posted by csbuckn

So was the old timing chain broke?

Nope. My chain outlived the cam sprocket (teeth were badly stripped) and so my car did this lovely thing where it wouldn't start, but the camshaft would turn "INTERMITTENTLY," as the mechanics said. Everyone I asked about this said my camshaft was broken, or the mechanics who reported this to me didn't know what they were talking about. Turns out that hand-cranking the engine caused the chain to slip, making the camshaft movement look intermittent, and cranking the engine with the key moved the camshaft just fine (the chain somehow stuck with the momentum imparted by the starter), but because the timing was all screwed up, it wouldn't start. It was a problem that baffled me for six months before I sucked it up and tore the front of the engine off to see what the hell was going on. In the end, you can see it for yourself in this video:

Re: Cherie's '84 Coupe DeVille Project

That's what 10 years of undergraduate and graduate school will do to you, lol. I suffered through grading too many papers written by junior year engineering students who couldn't even spell properly.

Originally Posted by Submariner409

Cherie, hang out in here, the Lounge and in the Engines threads. (The sticky posts at the top of each forum threads page can have some good info hidden there.)

Trust me, this will be my constant, online home for the next few weeks and probably the next few months as well. There are so many posts here on the forums that every day I spend digging through threads, I learn new things. I'll keep looking too.

Originally Posted by Submariner409

Rust - find a spray rattle can of Rustoleum rust converter - sprays on just like semi-gloss black paint but it KILLS rust.

I didn't know if that stuff worked well; I'll definitely try it!! Thanks for the recommendation. Naval jelly has been my best friend until now. lol

Re: Cherie's '84 Coupe DeVille Project

YES YES YES YES times a million. Especially considering even finding a place for your hand in this engine compartment fully loaded with parts is hard to manage. I could fit three of me in here!

Originally Posted by Poda

People get a kick out of it when I pop the hood and:
A) a small block chevy looks tiny
B) I demonstrate I can stand inside there..

Haha, yup! Sometimes when I'm working inside there, I'm sitting down, and no one ever sees me in there, so when my friend walks by and I pop up, occasionally he still laughs because it's unusual for people to disappear inside engine compartments. It's not the first time I've fit myself inside an engine compartment though.. I managed to get cozy inside my friends Cherokee WITH the engine block and most of its parts still in there. See? (photo attached).

Re: Cherie's '84 Coupe DeVille Project

Yep, it's got pinstripes on the hood and the sides of the body. Is it not common?

And yeah, no one else thought that it was the cam sprocket that had stripped. It was an issue that really baffled me for a long time. I hope anyone else in the future who is seeing the strange crank-no-start behavior I saw will find my post to know that it could be a stripped cam sprocket. I sure didn't find a single thing online when I spent weeks searching and asking several mechanic friends. :/ I post about everything on my project website in hopes of saving someone the confusion and time I've spent.

Re: Cherie's '84 Coupe DeVille Project

Interesting. The car has been in my family since 1994, and the paint and exterior haven't been changed since then (except for a few spots I primed to prevent further rust, lol), so if it was added, it was added by the older couple who were the first owners in the '80's and early 90's. Now that I know it's not common, I'll definitely keep an eye out for similar Caddies to see what other people have. Thanks for pointing that out. When I restore the paint, I plan to add the same exact pin-striping that has been on it for as long as I've known the car. I'm really quite fond of it.

Re: Cherie's '84 Coupe DeVille Project

You've come to the right place. I've dabbled in many automotive ventures over the years and have joined lots of related websites as a result. I firmly believe that the people in this forum - particularly this RWD section - are the best you will find anywhere. If you can't get help here, you can't get it anywhere.

Good luck with your project. You need to get that thing out of your friend's driveway and enjoy driving it - and let others enjoy seeing a classic on the road.

Re: Cherie's '84 Coupe DeVille Project

Also, once you get a factory service manual, you'll burn that haynes manual in the next bonfire. I know that thing has got to be making you mad with the lack of info. You'll be reading the service manual by the bed and on the toilet, its pretty damn cool. Every single bolt of your specific model is covered in the service manual. You will not get the car to where you want it without it.

Re: Cherie's '84 Coupe DeVille Project

HA! Should I be embarrassed then that I was reading such a terrible manual in bed and on the toilet? LOL Yes, it was crappy, but at least it was something. I've had to combine various resources to make up for not having a factory service manual. It looks like I can get one off Rock Auto. Is that the REAL factory service manual?

I have the emisisons chapter and the V8 engine chapter of the haynes manual practically memorized. LOL I need new reading material! Where did you get your service manual?